Readers get a chance to
participate in James Patterson's wildly successful Middle School series
in this interactive book featuring more than 80 hilarious anecdotes
from dueling siblings Rafe and Georgia Khatchadorian--plus dozens of
fun-filled activities!

The Khatchadorian kids are an opinionated
duo, and as readers of the Middle School stories know, they don't
exactly see eye to eye. But when wild-card Rafe and
mostly-straight-laced Georgia go at it, the only thing more fun than
their ranting is getting to join in! Their back-and-forth banter on a
range of topics--from bullying to cafeteria food to school dress
codes--introduces more than 40 writing and drawing prompts and other
games, along with room for readers to share their own points of view.
(Includes over 200 illustrations.)

I received this copy free from the author/publisher for a review.

Five
may sound like a high rating for a book of this kind, but for the age
group, it's excellent. Plenty of writing, art, jokes, and stuff to do
besides just read, kids should dig it. I think it would cater more
towards boys myself, due to some of the crude humor, but girls should
like it as well. It's told through two opposing points of view - Rafe,
as the stylish and gross brother who hates just about everything; the
sister, Georgia, who is perky, nerdy, and loves school with a positive
outlook on life.

The two jibe and disagree with each other for
about anything related to school, including Summer vacation, school
dances, librarians, dress codes, bullies, peer pressure, extra credit,
homework, and about anything else. Each side is shown with small art and
told in a different style to designate who is speaking. There are a few
cut outs - such as Georgias "fill in yourself" bookmark for the
librarian. There's plenty of mazes, scrambled words, fill in boxes, and
other arts/crafts/projects that tie in with the story going on. Besides
plenty to DO, it's just cute to read and look at, with creative text and
fun voices that should resonate with children.

I would recommend
this for high level elementary school children (fourth and fifth
grade), and sixth grade middle school children. 7th grade may be pushing
on how much they enjoy it depending on the books and subject the kid
likes. I think they'd enjoy the text part as humorous more than the
activities by that age.

FIRST EVIL
(Fear Street Cheerleaders, #1)
CHILDREN

The first in a
three-part miniseries following the terrifying adventures of the
cheerleaders of Shadyside High. After head cheerleader Jennifer is
thrown from a bus and paralyzed, terrible things begin to plague the
other members of the cheerleading squad.

Another
vintage I needed to clear off my shelves. The story isn't bad for the
age and it's not as predictable as a lot of his other works, but the
exclamation points and false chapter cliffhangers get old. I mainly
liked the characters, as simple as they seemed (which is usual), and
probably should have seen the ending coming. I did know it was something
to do with one girl (was right on that), but was completely wrong on
how it had to do with her. Overall the story was decent but the dialogue
painful.

THE SECOND EVIL
(Fear Street Cheerleader, #2)
CHILDREN

The second book in the
three-part Cheerleaders series. The evil spirit that embodies Jennifer
and murdered Bobbi has been laid to rest. Or has it? The murders begin
again, and Corky is sure that Jennifer is behind them. So sure, she digs
up Jennifer's grave to prove it.

This story was ridiculously
bad. Going back down memory lane and clearing some of these oldies
written for kids isn't always going well. How many exclamation marks can
dialogue have. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RL Stine did write some good ones, but
others are positively painful. The ending was hastily tossed together
without as much thought as the first one, too, even though neither were
enjoyable. Not quite hideous enough for one star considering the age
group it was written for.

THE THIRD EVIL
(Fear Street Cheerleaders, #3)
CHILDREN

The author of the
horrifying Fear Street series continues the saga of the possessed
cheerleaders of Shadyside High. Corky is tormented by dreams of her dead
sister Bobbi. What terrifying message is Bobbi trying to give her? When
the evil begins again--more gruesome than ever--Corky knows she must
learn the secret that will destroy the spirit's power for good--or be
the next to die.

A lot better than the other
two surprisingly. This one didn't jump around as much because they were
kind of all together in a camp and then home. There were also no
annoying cliffhanger chapters and toned down on the !!! dialogue a bit.
Since it was wrapping it up with a backstory the plot was a bit more
solid/interesting as well.

THE COLD PEOPLE
(Spooksville, #5)
CHILDREN

Discovering huge blocks
of ice inside the woods of Spooksville, Adam and his friend
inadvertently set free the Cold People, who soon after ravage the town,
freezing everybody they touch.

Another
really cute Spooksville story that shows that, no matter the age it's
written for, Pike is a talented author. The backstory was inventive and
science-fiction rich when told by Bum. The dialogue was humorous as
always, each kid having their typical differing personalities. The end
was charged with suspense for this age-group, inventively defeating the
monsters without silly coincidence that randomly springs up.

ATTACK OF THE KILLER CRABS
(Spooksville, #18)
CHILDREN

Spooksville is in trouble. Huge crabs have appeared on the beach. The crabs keep coming, and it seems no weapon can stop them.

These
were written way back when for grade school children, but even so, Pike
injects humor, interesting stories, and different character
personalities. He doesn't rely on weak dialogue and mixes a bit of
science fiction into the stories. Kids would really love these, as they
should, as the stories hold originality and make you chuckle every once
in awhile, especially with the selfish Sally and the deviously greedy
'Bum'.